Summer is a time when we can all catch our breath from the hectic schedule during the rest of the year. Summer is (just a little) quieter for us too; the staff uses this time to reflect and evaluate how we are impacting Jewish lives at home and abroad as they plan for the coming year. The board spends time thinking about what our strategic priorities should be for the coming year. Together, we are on a journey to evaluate how we can best serve the community and create a better Jewish future here in Howard County, in addition to fulfilling our role within the Federation system to help Jews in Israel and overseas.

Our Jewish community is strengthened by strong collaboration and partnership with our synagogues. Over the summer, members of the Federation board have been meeting with our congregational rabbis and presidents to discuss new ways we can work together to serve the needs of Jewish Howard County. You can expect to see continued collaboration in our signature community events -- Global Day of Jewish Learning, the Great Challah Bake, the Purim Palooza and our Yom Hashoah service, but we are also looking for new and different ways we can add collective value to members in our community. Open, transparent and timely communication is essential to strong partnerships, and we are actively seeking ways to engage with synagogue representatives more routinely.

In these challenging times, we have also convened a cross-section of our community to charter a Jewish community relations council to help tackle unique Jewish challenges within our community and create a unified “Jewish voice” locally, in Annapolis and in Washington, DC. As we move forward, we are leveraging the expertise of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which serves as the umbrella for all local JCRCs. The council will also respond to issues related to anti-Semitism, BDS or other forms of religious intolerance that impact our community.

As we think about the future of Jewish Howard County and how the Federation can best serve our community needs, we are engaged in a number of one-on-one conversations with various members of our community to get your perspectives. Our interim executive director, Ralph Grunewald, is meeting with approximately 100 individuals and will use that input, along with his personal observations, to provide the board with recommendations about how we can serve our community needs more effectively. Over the coming months, the board will focus on evaluating these recommendations and creating a plan forward. If you are interested in participating in any of these conversations, please contact our office at 410-730-4976.

Together, we can build a better Jewish future at home, in Israel and overseas.